Blue Mass Group

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STEVE PAGLIUCA – A Republican Trojan Horse?

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According to Joan Vennochi in her op ed column in the Sunday Globe, What is Pagliuca’s political identity, one has to ask if Steve Pagliuca is nothing more than a Republican Trojan Horse…Gold Plated Trojan Horse.

Specifically:

* Steve Pagliuca backed Willard “Mitt” Romney against his “epic” 1994 Senate Race against Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

* Steve Pagliuca’s wife, Judy Pagliuca, wrote the checks for the “attack ads on Ted Kennedy.

* Steve Pagliuca supported Republican Bill “Amber Colored Liquid” Weld in his Senate Race against Senator John Kerry.

* Steve Pagliuca gave money to George W. Bush in his race for President against Vice President Al Gore.

Let’s expose this Republican Trojan Horse before Steve Pagliuca’s Million Dollars tries to destroy the Democratic Party and the memory of the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

Steve Pagliuca is an obvious “liar” about his true political philosophy.

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Comments

  1. Having Steve P. join the fray in this scrum of a melee of a special primary/special election may be a local economic stimulus project – privately funded – for those who make their living working on someone else’s campaign.  All you “political mercenaries” who can be bought and paid to work know Steve P. can pay his bills.  Enjoy.

    <

    p>However, Steve P. has demonstrated zero commiment to the democratic party’s ideals, or to the democratic party.

    <

    p>Steve P,also has zero experience with governance, team building, or as a consensus-building executive [rather than as Mr. “I-say-jump-you say how high” Bain Partner].

    <

    p>Let Steve P. run for some hands on office like selectman, school committee, or city councilor and learn the ropes of governance first – a true public servant learns the ropes and doesn’t feel entitled to start at the top.  

    <

    p>This run by Steve P. looks like sheer ego to me.  

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    p>Heads up – making money at Bain does not qualify anyone in governance 101.

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    p>I find Steve P.s candidate useful only in that some folks will draw big pay and spend big money which is nice for them during a recession.

    • Read this first, then get the rest of the story!

      Pagliuca now says he backed Romney’s Senate bid only because of their close professional relationship as colleagues at Bain Capital, and not because of any shared ideology, whatever that might be, given Romney’s vacillations. It’s not so easy to explain why he supported Republican Bill Weld when he tried to knock John Kerry out of the Senate, or gave money to Republican George W. Bush when he ran against Democrat Al Gore.

    • I actually buy the defense on Romney, I have moderately liberal Mormon friends of friends from Belmont who supported Romney for Governor because he was a big benefactor to their church and they felt he was an incredibly decent guy who deserved their help. Bob Schaffer is a prominent Democrat running for Senator in Texas who donated to Bush’s presidential campaign in 2000 and was his Ambassador to Japan. Again I respect that personal relationship determining support. Similarly a lot of Democratic celebs donated to Reagan in the 80’s (Sinatra, Peck, others) because they were personal friends of the Gipper. It went the other way too with Tip O’Neill getting donations from Republicans like George Steinbrenner because of their friendship. So I can buy that excuse.

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      p>Why Steve P. gave money to Weld and Bush is another question that demonstrates a more consistent Republican inclination. I am personally inclined not to support him because he has no experience and seems to have taken identical positions to Capuano who has been a solid Democrat taking hard stances in public life for a lot longer. But I think we should let the candidate and his stances on the issues and his record speak for itself instead of judging him by his past donations.  

  4. Considering Massachusetts Statewide Democratic politics over the past four decades, it seems a bit over the top to criticize Pagliuca for following in the footsteps of Dukakis, Tsongas, Kerry, and Patrick.

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    p>While I seriously oppose his politics, I see no reason to ad hominemize the candidate.

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    p>He is, after all, to the left of the four folks mentioned above.

    • How is any of the above an ad hominem attack?
      And he’s to the left of Mike Dukakis? That statement doesn’t even warrant refutation, it is so patently ridiculous.

      • To address your points in order:

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        p>’Steve Pagliuca is an obvious “liar” about his true political philosophy.’ – from the original post. Attacking the person, as opposed to his beliefs is a dictionary example of an ad honinem attack.

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        p>Appropos Dukakis: He ran to the right of his Republican opponent in 1974 on the issues of being tough on crime and his “lead pipe guarantee” not to raise taxes. Over his first term he managed to trigger an intra-Party class was that led to his loss in the primary.

        <

        p>Dukakis was a progressive in the original sense of the term; a reform conservative.

        • Atticus cites examples of Pagliuca’s actions which may indicate the latter’s beliefs. How could anyone think that pointing out that a person who donated money to Republicans might not really be a true Democrat, is an ad hominem attack?
          And as for your Dukakis examples, if he said those things- you offer no citations- it would mean that he’s a flip-flopper, not a right-winger. His record speaks for itself.

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